


For Her

by nchi_wana



Category: Et Cetera (Manga)
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon, Romance, Shyness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-12
Updated: 2012-08-12
Packaged: 2018-01-03 20:43:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1072859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nchi_wana/pseuds/nchi_wana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate finds something very precious to give Fino, but he doesn't appear to understand the magnitude of the gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Her

Fino was brought to attention when Alternate called her name. “Hey, Fino, come here for a second!”

She quickly made her way up the hillside, grabbing onto shrubs to help her ascend the steep slope. Knobby roots extended up from the soil like stiff wooden snakes as the trees warped to compensate for the precarious embankment. Stones and chunks of dirt tumbled down the hill behind her as her moccasins dug in for a foothold. If it hadn’t been for her buckskin dress and her dark, chocolate brown hair wrapped in two low pigtails, the brush would’ve scratched her and caught at her hair.

When she reached the top of the embankment, she found Alternate kneeling on the ground, his back to her. He wore his deerskin shirt and a pair of blue trousers. His head of unruly brown hair was tousled by a gentle breeze.

“What is it?” Fino asked as she approached.

Alternate turned to her with a smile, one she knew meant he’d found something interesting. A shaft of sunlight that escaped through the branches touched his monocle and made it gleam. “I know you lost your feather last week…”

Just the memory made Fino’s heart drop. She’d been hoping to forget about it. Last week they’d encountered a bad storm, and a tempestuous wind had come up and tore the feather from her headband. She’d been devastated, as the feather had been a reward from the leaders of her village for going into an enemy camp in broad daylight and rescuing her cousin. They both escaped unharmed.

She couldn’t fathom what Alternate was talking about, though. “Did you find something?”

He stood and brought up a feather. Fino’s breath caught as she gazed at it. A good six inches long, its shape was flawless, with each vane lacking a single split. It was tipped with a bronze hue, and down its quill was the purest white, a cluster of downy barbs nestled beneath it.

“Looks pretty good to me,” Alternate said as he examined it. He carefully ran his fingers over the vanes, and then looked at her. “Want it? You need one.”

Fino’s heart swelled with emotion.  The significance of the feather was one thing, but the person giving it to her was another. She clasped her hands in front of her, not sure what to do exactly. Should she take it? Of course, she knew the answer to that, but she was partly afraid to take it from Alternate. He had no idea of the feather’s importance, or the meaning of giving such a sacred object to someone. He was moving in complete ignorance, and total innocence.

“Fino, are you okay?” she heard him ask. Her eyes had been riveted to the feather when she looked up at him. He seemed concerned. She felt warmth in her face, and knew she was blushing. Her heart began thrashing against her ribs.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” she managed. “So you just found that?”

Her friend nodded. “But do you want it?”

“Of course!”

Fino first removed the glove from her right hand and reached forward with trembling fingers. She took the quill gingerly, turning it over in the sunlight filtering down between the gnarled branches of the swaying pines above her. Her eyes could make out each barb that reflected in the luminance. She thought she felt a warmness spreading through the tips of her fingers and into her hand. The feather almost seemed to glow. The down ruffled.

“You want me to put it in your hair?” Alternate asked.

Fino went stiff. She was perfectly capable on her own, but she found herself saying, “Yes.”

Her fried took the feather from her hand and stepped behind her. She felt his fingers go to work finding her headband, and then the feather slipping behind it. At this point, her heart was slamming so hard in her chest that she could hear it drumming in her ears. She knew her face had to be redder than anyone had ever seen.

Alternate then moved to stand in front of her with a beaming smile. “Nice! It’s better than the last one!”

Fino’s tongue seemed to stick to the roof of her mouth. “T-thank you. It really means a lot to me.”

“Does it?” Alternate asked, tilting his head as if not quite understanding. “How so?”

Fino’s hand went up to feel the feather. “Eagle flies high in the sky and is close to the spirits there. When a feather comes down, it is a gift and a symbol of good. In my village, only brave warriors are given a feather. And the fact that you just gave one to me…”

Alternate continued to stare at her. It was obvious it wasn’t sinking in, but then his expression changed. A flush bloomed over his cheeks. “Oh! Well, I think you deserve it. You’re the bravest woman I know and I’ve seen what you can do.”

He called her a woman? Fino’s cheeked burned again with an overwhelming shyness. Why did she always do this with him? It was so unlike her!

She stuttered and couldn’t get the words out, but Alternate put a hand on her shoulder to quiet her. It only succeeded in making her more nervous. He leaned in, and a sudden hope was born in her, but before he came closer he stopped.

“I think there’s no better place for it,” he said.

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